Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who has in the past referred to himself as an “organic product” of the ABVP, while congratulating the organisation, termed the victory as a reflection of the unwavering faith of the youth in the ‘Nation First’ ideology. “This triumph will further accelerate the journey of transforming the council’s student power into national power,” he posted on X.
Shah is not the only “organic” product of the ABVP. Several BJP leaders, who went on to become ministers, cut their political teeth with the organisation.
From the late Arun Jaitley, to BJP president and Union Minister J.P. Nadda, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, former HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and the recently appointed Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta—all have been associated with the ABVP.
The RSS is the BJP’s ideological fountainhead, and while it has a youth outfit—the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM)—it does not have a students’ organisation, and it is leaders from the ABVP who have gone to become prominent leaders within the BJP.
Formed in 1949, the students’ wing of the RSS currently has around 60 lakh members (renewed every year) across the country, according to the ABVP. The organisation claims membership has been increasing steadily with 50 lakh in 2023, 55 lakh in 2024 and already reaching around 60 lakh in 2025.
When asked how the ABVP has also become a laboratory for grooming BJP leaders, Ashish Chauhan, the national organisation secretary of the ABVP, said the experience at ABVP naturally helps, but there have been many who contested the students’ union elections, but later opted out of politics.
“It surely can serve as a launching pad but consistency is the key. The experience at ABVP allows these young leaders to understand their commitment to public and social life. It gives them an avenue to understand their own calling. But commitment for social and national causes is required to carve a niche in politics,” he added.
For instance, after Narendra Modi took over the reins as PM, the number of ABVP alumni among chief ministers increased significantly. Of the 28 BJP chief ministers who have served since 2014 (including five who were already in office), 13 were in the ABVP during their college days. Some of the prominent names include former Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, former Jharkhand CM Raghubar Das, former Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani, former Himachal Pradesh CM Jai Ram Thakur, former Tripura CM Biplab Kumar Deb and incumbent Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath.
Nine new chief ministers were appointed by the BJP during PM Modi’s second stint, and of these, five had their grooming in the ABVP. Former and current Uttarakhand chief ministers Tirath Singh Rawat and Pushkar Singh Dhami, respectively, are both from the ABVP.
Apart from them, the two chief ministers appointed by the BJP in December 2023 in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan—Mohan Yadav and Bhajan Lal Sharma—also have an ABVP background. In addition to this, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta appointed earlier this year also has an ABVP background.
Delhi government minister and senior BJP leader Ashish Sood, who has served as the DUSU president in the past, said that what distinguishes ABVP from other student organisations is the fact that they don’t just raise issues related to students, but also take up critical issues of nation-building.
Speaking to ThePrint, he said ABVP is the largest student organisation in the world, dedicated to the cause of national reconstruction, and leaders emerge from this organisation because they are able to connect at the grass root level and understand people’s aspirations.
“We have historically fought against corruption, such as the Bofors scandal, and even raised the issue of infiltration in Assam; while initiatives like the Tiranga Yatra exemplify our commitment to the nation,” he added.
Sood said the holistic vision for nation-building distinguishes ABVP from others. “This is an organisation which even raises criticism of a ministry or government governed by the BJP. Simply flexing muscles or wearing T-shirts does not make one a youth icon. True leadership involves addressing the mindset and real concerns of the youth. One cannot earn the label ‘Mr Cool’ merely by invoking ‘Gen Z’.”
Sood added that in Punjab, ABVP achieved electoral victories despite not being in power.
The ABVP’s influence has been evident in the Union Cabinet over the past few years too. In the 2014 Modi cabinet, of the 41 ministers sworn in, at least 18 had started their political careers in the ABVP. When Modi returned to power in 2019, of the 56 ministers inducted, around 24 were from the ABVP. In December 2023, of the 70 BJP ministers, 23 were from the ABVP.
The ABVP’s influence is also evident in the present Union Cabinet with 10 ministers such as J.P. Nadda, Amit Shah, Dharmendra Pradhan, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Nitin Gadkari, Bhupender Yadav, Rajnath Singh, G. Kishan Reddy, L. Murugan, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat among others having been associated with the ABVP.
The BJP as well as the ABVP are portraying the recent wins by the organisation as an evidence of grassroot mobilisations and a resonance with young voters on issues of cultural pride, nationalism, as well as practical governance rather than protest politics and activism.
Senior BJP leader and BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya took to X, and while congratulating ABVP, said Gandhi was talking about a “Gen Z revolution” even as NSUI was getting wiped out across central universities.
“In just the last year, ABVP has stormed Patna University, Panjab University, JNU, Delhi University, Guwahati University, Manipur University, several universities in Uttarakhand, and now Hyderabad Central University. Sorry Rahul, flaunting a six-pack and hopping around on stage doesn’t impress Gen Z; vision, clarity, and leadership do”.
Speaking to ThePrint, social scientist and professor Badri Narayan pointed out that the recent wins by the ABVP reflect a shift in the mood of the younger generation.
“They are moving towards ABVP, which has been pursuing an agenda of development, growth, and nation first. The Hyderabad win is especially significant because it is known to be a hub of left-wing politics. In Delhi for instance, where the fight has always been between Congress’ NSUI and RSS’s ABVP, it again reflects how strong it has become over a period of time. Winning Delhi is symbolically very significant,” Narayan said.
Narayan said the wins are also significant for the BJP. “This will definitely also have an impact on politics as a number of BJP leaders emerge from ABVP. Whether it is Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan, J.P. Nadda, who is also the party president. The basic grooming of many BJP leaders takes place in the ABVP,” he added.
ABVP’s national organisation secretary Ashish Chauhan listed the recent victories of the organisation. He said in 2025 alone, the organisation won Panjab University’s Campus Students’ Council (PUCSC) for the first time, as well as the students’ union elections in Himachal. In Bihar for instance, Maithili Mrinalini of ABVP registered a ‘historic win’ becoming the first female president of the Patna University Students Union (PUSU) and in Hyderabad the organisation registered a clean sweep after seven years.
In fact, reacting to the Hyderabad win, senior party leader from Telangana and minister Sanjay Kumar Bandi said: “Gen Z of UoH is with ABVP. From president to sports secretary, every key position has been secured. This clean sweep reflects the trust Gen Z at UoH has placed in nationalist ideology. From Punjab to DU to UoH, campus after campus, the saffron wave is turning momentum into mandate,” he said as he congratulated the candidates.
Similarly, in Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, ABVP made a comeback after 10 years by securing victory in one post. Chauhan said the ABVP has also decided to contest the upcoming Manipur University Students’ Union (MUSU) Election in 2025-26.
“We have been raising our issues constantly which strike a chord with the youth. Making statements about having the support of Gen Z is one thing and having real support is another issue. In Patna University, we have the first ever woman president winning from the ABVP. In Panjab University too, ABVP won the president’s post for the first time. In Hyderabad, ABVP has registered a clean sweep after seven years,” he said.
The organisation says it has been focussing on issues related to nationalism and character-building, and in the past has participated in programmes and agitations, including Chalo Kashmir, Ram Janmabhoomi Andolan, and removal of Article 370, among others.
Speaking to ThePrint, national spokesperson of the BJP, R.P. Singh, who also started his career with ABVP and was elected DUSU member in 1982, said there is an overall positivity in the country towards right wing ideology as well as revival of nationalism and cultural pride—something that resonates with today’s youth.
“The youth, Gen Z, aligns with assertive politics rather than compromising politics and this is why ABVP has been growing phenomenally. The skills, the discipline that you learn in ABVP help you in your overall growth as an individual too,” said Singh.
Guru Prakash Paswan, the national spokesperson of the BJP, said the ABVP, being the world’s oldest and largest student organisation, inculcates a nationalistic spirit and from the very beginning trains and cultivates young leaders for society, state and the nation, something essential in a leader.
“The home minister, the national BJP president and multiple leaders today in the national galaxy are products of the ABVP. The rising acceptance of ABVP at universities across the country is a validation of the ideological commitment towards nation and civilisation. The philosophy of ‘nation first’ is now gaining a lot of traction with youngsters and Gen Zs and the direct consequence is now visible in the students’ polls. This is a welcome development in the world of student politics,” he said.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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